9 hours ago, Antoyne said:

I can’t believe Nicole and Dani were about to ruin Christmas because of a story from Dana. 🙄

Ted and Shanice have so much chemistry.

Yes, they do.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Not Hayley verbally dogwalking Bill!!!

On 12/27/2025 at 1:20 PM, Vee said:

Anyway, it's not a patch on Ron Carlivati slagging off his haters on GH on Instagram during his post about its 60th anniversary lol.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqfv5hROU5X/

Yes, that is the post I mentioned.

Yeah I agree that RC was rude.

I agree that MVJ is just appreciating the podcasters who watch BTG and talk about BTG, and that she doesn't expect them to love every minute of every episode -- she appreciates that they talk about the show!

TBF RC has almost always been That Girl That Shady Gay.

I’m glad you guys see the chemistry between Shanice and Ted because I certainly don’t. If chemistry means that you believe two people are into each other, I do see it in Shanice but I don’t see it in Ted. In fact, Ted comes across as cold and from another planet. I struggle to see him really interested in Nicole too. Keith isn’t working.

As for MVJ’s post, honestly it kinda made me feel bad about the online community - and even myself to an extent. Here you have this older lady who had her dream come true after a lifetime of God knows how many sacrifices. She is using this dream to pay tribute to her past (Orpheus Gene’s, The Articulettes) and recognize current talent (Tunie, Vaughn, Lindstrom and all). And now she has all these strangers online giving her grief - me included! - as if she had robbed us of something when in reality she is the reason why we have this thing we are discussing, which is BTG. Food for thought for 2026!

I don't think the online feedback on BTG on social media has been too out of bounds, really. Compared to the savage shít you see re: the other soaps it's tame, and I mostly find it pretty healthy and encouraging in terms of volume and attention. Some stuff is unreasonable or parasocial but most of it is just typical intense soap engagement, which is good for the show.

There's a lot of intensity especially re: Eva v. Kat and Leslie - you can tell some of it comes from people who are just not used to a five day a week soap opera with an ongoing villain and are throwing fits over it, but some of the complaints re: the confused POV on the show from day to day on Eva and Kat are valid. The show wants it both ways with Eva especially right now, and it's getting tedious to watch. As is the very blinkered take on Kat and Tomas which I hope will change. Leslie can sometimes be inconsistent too but that's a larger issue with the overall broader writing on the show. I do think they've got something interesting going for her with old Marcel.

I have a suspicion someone in here was right (apologies for not remembering who) when they said WinterFest came and went in part because it was a planned exit hatch for the show if they didn't get picked up in order to wrap the storylines, and then they did. They're still playing the Laura angle with Leslie after the fact and that means that sooner or later she has to pay. I am very curious if there was any taping gap between the 'seasons" (a term I despise re: a daily soap opera) per any retooling.

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Vee

Finally catching up on Christmas week's episodes.

I found Kat's comment about fasting for 2 days so she can have some of Smitty's eggnog really out of place in 2025. It was a joke I'm sure, but it read like 90s/2000s toxic diet culture - like you didn't eat for two days so you can enjoy a treat around the holidays? It's also not common of Gen Z to support such outdated views. Don't get me wrong girls (and guys) still worry about weight, looks/appearance probably and ironically in a more harmful way than ever before. The way they speak about it though is completely positive and reframed. It's like they all spout body positivity and loving yourself, but then want to look like their favorite influencers and go under the knife or get beauty enchancing procedures on the other hand.

Ted is an idiot. Like why in the hell would he go and tell Nicole about Vernon's "affair". Even if he believed it to be true, it wasn't his place. There was no winning for him. He didn't even frame it as I think Vernon might be cheating. He straight up said Vernon was without any concrete proof.

Ted just needs to get away from Nicole. There is no redeeming qualities in that pairing at this point. The writing has completely annihilated this.

Regina seemed to have no issue referring to Samantha and Tyrell by their new names even though she has hardly seen them since they came back into her life. I wonder if writers just want to completely forget how weird and offensive it would be that Martin and Smitty changed two grown children's names because they preferred other ones - especially when said children were old enough to know and understand their own names.

TT did phenomenal work. I have faith she will do an amazing job with this story.

I love that we are building some traditions. Like the Dupree women searching for their gifts before Christmas. Of course Naomi had to be nasty about her gift. I feel like this would work well otherwise and in years to come where someone finds a gift early and it causes anger, confusion, mystery, etc. But I am so dang tired of Naomi's hot and cold attitude with Jacob. Like get over it already.

Another cute tradition is the competitiveness around who has the best tree. I can see Dani and Martin trying to outdo each other to the point it the trees and decor become ridiculous.

These episodes were really nice balance of families, gathering, and drama. It was nice.

1 minute ago, GLATWT88 said:

I can see Dani and Martin trying to outdo each other to the point it the trees and decor become ridiculous.

That would be hilarious and they should pursue it. Let Claybon have some more lighter fare in between having to do a lot of ChatGPT motivational speeches. He has loosened up a lot in recent months but he is particularly good with Mike Manning, Colby Muhammad and Ambyr Michelle, and they need to play those sibling bonds more for fun. Let us see why people voted for him.

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Vee

10 minutes ago, Vee said:

That would be hilarious and they should pursue it. Let Claybon have some more lighter fare in between having to do a lot of ChatGPT motivational speeches. He has loosened up a lot in recent months but he is particularly good with Mike Manning, Colby Muhammad and Ambyr Michelle, and they need to play those sibling bonds more for fun. Let us see why people voted for him.

He has come a long way, but ChatGPT speeches made me laugh.

1 minute ago, GLATWT88 said:

He has come a long way, but ChatGPT speeches made me laugh.

They still got a few too many of them on the show, and not just from Martin! But his approach is unique lol.

I respect that they want to shine a light on social issues on the show - I remember people being touched when they discussed the Black female incidence of some specific form of cancer or something like that a couple months back out of nowhere - but it can be slotted in a bit less clunkily. Which is not to say the cancer saga on GH back in the '90s didn't have some of that writing. In the end on daytime when you handle this stuff it always comes back to educating the audience, and it should. But it needs a few more passes on this show at times not to sound like Claybon or Tunie or whoever is reading off the prompter.

(Ironically I have always used the '-' dash a lot when posting and now I guess it's a cornerstone of AI-written responses. Oh well!)

I will say also re: fan engagement, Sean Freeman's IG is consistently hilarious. I had no idea a bunch of the cast did the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk a couple months ago and the many fans on the scene went apeshít for him, MM and even ol' Randy.

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Vee

Yes, I know what moment you are speaking about. I believe it was when Eva learned about a patient who wouldn't have money to pay for his surgery and she asked Leslie for the money.

I am all for soaps being educational, but it needs to feel authentic. There have been a few times where characters will just talk like they are reading off a waiting room pamphlet. With Anita and the breast cancer stuff, it works because the character is actually dealing with it. Sometimes, however, it can feel forced and after school special.

43 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

I love that we are building some traditions. Like the Dupree women searching for their gifts before Christmas.

Same. I am already looking forward to next year.

29 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

He has come a long way, but ChatGPT speeches made me laugh.

A VERY long way. Time and ability to settle always matters.

It wouldn't be a P & G soap without establishing the holiday traditions.

I'm hoping 2026 will be the year that a 2nd family will be established with their own stories and traditions... and that Darlene Hawthorne is introduced on the show to get her perspective being a Boy Mom. Does she favor Jacob? Does she favor Luke? Does she favor Izaiah? And would she approve of Eva dating her youngest son or the refreshing twist is that she approves of Eva and doesn't approve of Naomi.